Patriots Rounding Into Form; Special Teams Literally Special In Punking Of Broncos In Denver

The Denver Broncos should have known from the very start that they were in for a long night.

Well, from almost the very start - because, you see, the Broncos' defense started the game exactly as their fans (and, sadly, New England Patriots' fans as well) have come to expect and count on, forcing the visiting Patriots into a three-and-out on their first possession and into a punting situation just a minute-and-a-half into their nationally televised showdown in Denver.

Dion Lewis evades tacklers on his way to a kick return for touchdown

But from the point that the football left the foot of Patriots' punter Ryan Allen, the Broncos fortunes plummeted into the toilet, finding yet another creative way to victimize themselves and their fans, sinking further into the abyss of football despair by dropping their fifth straight game, a 41-16 thrashing at the hands of their arch-nemesis.

When Allen's punt reached it's nadir and spiraled down 46 yards later, Broncos' return man Isaiah McKenzie let it slip between his hands and to the turf, Patriots' gunner Jonathan Jones taking him out of the play and trailer Jacob Hollister falling cleanly on the ball to give the ball right back to Patriots' quarterback Tom Brady on the Denver 24 yard line...

...Brady finding running back Rex Burkhead twice in the pattern, the second throw covering the final 14 yards to paydirt and an early lead the Patriots would never relinquish.

New England head ball coach Bill Belichick employs an inordinate number of players on his roster who play primarily on special teams, Jones and Hollister among them, and who make the wholly ignored phase of the game a vital bridge between the offense and defense - often choosing to go against conventional wisdom in order to gain an advantage over every team he faces.

On Sunday night, that advantage came in the form of a dagger.

Leading by seven after the gift from his special teams - and after the Patriots defense did what they always do, giving up almost every inch there is between the twenties then shutting down the Broncos' offense to force them to settle for a field goal - Denver kicker Brandon McManus sent the subsequent kickoff three yards deep into the Patriots end zone...

...fifteen seconds and 103 yards later, Dion Lewis was celebrating with his teammates in the Broncos' end zone after skirting the home team's sideline and dodging weak efforts to shove him out of bounds, the second of three impact special teams plays giving the Patriots a 14-3 lead.

The third special teams standout effort came via a blocked punt four minutes into the second quarter, courtesy of running back Rex Burkhead who exploded between two Broncos blockers like he was shot out of a canon and easily got to Denver punter Riley Dixon, who fell on the ball at the Denver thirty, preventing a gaggle of Patriot rushers from picking up the ball and running it into the end zone.

As it was, the Patriots turned that gaffe into a Stephen Gostkowski field goal, essentially putting the game out of reach.

But the Patriots were far from finished putting points on the board, as tight end Dwayne Allen hauled in a tough grab for his first catch and first touchdown in New England, followed by Lewis displaying his super-human strength in dragging two Broncos into the end zone from seven yards out, culminating with fellow running back James White getting in on the fun, catching a quick out from Brady that left his mirror frozen on the turf.

Denver's offense pretty much had their way with New England's defense between the twenties in the first half, but drives of 58, 64 and 63 yards stalled short of paydirt, forcing the Broncos to settle for three McManus field goals - but quarterback Brock Osweiler led the Broncos down the field on their first possession of the second half, hitting receiver Demaryius Thomas from seven yards out to give Denver a brief spark of hope...

...though that lasted all of three-and-a-half minutes as Brady responded with a big play drive, hitting both Brandin Cooks and Rob Gronkowski with 25 yard heaters to get New England into Denver's red area, then handed the ball to Lewis three straight times to end any hope Denver had of climbing back into the game.

Brady was an ever-efficient 25 of 34 for 266 yards and three scores as his offensive line - despite missing regular right tackle Marcus Cannon - kept him upright nearly the entire game, allowing just one sack on a safety blitz that White matador'd on. In fact, the Broncos' vaunted pass rush got close just a handful of times, under pressure just six times all evening...

...and Brady, as he usually does, made the Broncos pay for generating extra pressure, completing all six throws for 89 yards and the touchdown to Allen for a perfect rating of 158.3.

Despite having just three outside-the-numbers receivers healthy, Brady targeted Cooks, Phillip Dorsett and Danny Amendola on exactly half of his throws, completing 12 of those 17 passes for 126 yards and completing 13 of 17 to his backs and tight ends for 140 yards and all three scores. Cooks led all Patriots pass catchers with six catches on 11 targets, most of them with Denver corner Chris Harris hanging all over him.

Gronkowski led the tight ends with four, first down-producing grabs while the newly-reacquired Martellus Bennett snagged three passes in playing just five snaps. Burkhead and White split the six targets that went to the backs.

Osweiler was 18 of 33 for 221 yards with the touchdown to Thomas and an interception by Patriots' safety Patrick Chung, who had his best game of the season, allowing three catches on four targets for just 14 yards. Most of the damage that Denver did on offense came via Osweiler targeting  receiver Emmanuel Sanders, who caught six of eleven targets for a game-high 137 yards, all but 23 of those yards coming against Patriots' corner Malcolm Butler, who Sanders screwed into the ground repeatedly while running some nifty patterns.

Thomas' touchdown catch and a defensive holding call were the only sore spots on the resume of cornerback Stephon Gilmore, who returned to action after a three week hiatus on the shelf to essentially lock down the 6' 3", 230 pounder to just 44 yards on five catches.

Denver's ground game proved potent, particularly with C.J. Anderson toting the rock for 5.4 yards per shot, but the Broncos were forced to abandon their running game as they fell behind by three scores and went to the air.

Overall, it was a solid effort from a Patriots' team that is starting to round into form and looking every bit the contender they were expected to be after a rocky start to the season, having now won five straight and in a deadlock with the Pittsburgh Steelers for the best record in the conference.

The Patriots will remain in Colorado for the bulk of this week before heading south of the border to take on the Oakland Raiders in Mexico City this coming Sunday.

Corruption? Collusion? Bennett Saga Has All The Makings Of A Made-For-TV Court Drama

In the film A Few Good Men, Tom Cruise portrayed a Navy Lawyer who is defending two Marines against Murder charges, a fellow Marine dying from the effects of lactic acidosis brought upon him by their actions in delivering was is known in the military as a "Code Red", the act of a Marine's shipmates employing disciplinary measures to correct ill behavior.

They tied up a Private Santiago, stuffed a rag in his mouth and sealed it with duct tape, claiming that they were given an order to deliver this brand of military training by shaving his head - but the aforementioned acidosis caused his lungs to bleed from lack of oxygen and he died within minutes.

When Cruise interrogated the physician in charge of the hospital on the base where the event occurred, Dr. Stone - played by Christopher Guess of This is Spinal Tap fame - claimed that the defendants treated the rag with a toxin, not a serious heart condition, that caused the acidosis to accelerate, leading to the Private's death, claiming that Santiago was given a clean bill of health...

...to which Cruise replied, "And that's why it had to be poison, right, Commander? Because Lord knows that if you put a man with a serious coronary condition back on duty with a clean bill of health and that man died from a heart-related incident, you'd have a lot to answer for, wouldn't you, doctor?"

The film was centered upon the corruption of a Marine Colonel who eventually incriminated himself on the stand - but stuff like that never happens in real life right? Particularly in something as insignificant as a football injury?

The weirdness surrounding the Martellus Bennett saga this past week has enough layers to make a drama lasagna, but it depends on what side of the table you sit on as to whether it is savory, or if it leaves a bad taste in your mouth.

If on the Green Bay Packers' side, you sit slack-jawed in wonder at the speed in which Bennett went from a struggling and ill-fitting free agent signing to a locker room cancer that needed to be expressed and removed, while on the side of the New England Patriots, you're sitting pretty with a ready-made solution to the lack of viable depth at the tight end position.

At issue is a shoulder injury to the garrulous and candid tight end, the effusion of which caused a contentious rift between him and the Green Bay Packers, ultimately leading the team severing ties with Bennett, which in turn spurred many bad feelings, culminating in hand-wringing impromptu press conferences by Packers' coach Mike McCarthy and twitter bombs filled with color metaphors from Bennett himself.

The Packers released Bennett on Wednesday, claiming that he failed to report an injury to the team - a claim that Bennett vigorously denies, and makes clear on his multi-tweet twitter rant that effectively trashes the Packers' organization as being nothing more than tight-fisted misers who went for a public cash-grab in the wake of Bennett pondering retirement from the game after this season.

While that's really between Bennett and the Packers, the Patriots are bound to become entangled in the drama off the field as NFL.com's Ian Rappaport cites sources that the injury in question is actually the same injury that he suffered in the Patriots' week twelve contest last season against the New York Jets, and was listed on the team's injury report as part of a laundry list of maladies that Bennett eventually played through.

The Packers claim, through their failure to disclose designation, that Bennett's injury was a pre-existing condition and that the mercurial tight end failed to disclose it to team doctors during his physical, which he obviously passed and then signed his three-year, $21 million deal.

Unless Green Bay's management has some information that could solidly refute Rappaport's tome, this entire debacle makes the Packers' organization look like bumbling fools.

First, since Bennett's shoulder injury with the Patriots was well documented through weekly reports to the league, one would think that the Packers' team physicians would have taken extra care to scrutinize the joint - but they gave Bennett a clean bill of health which logically would place the onus on the Packers.

One has to think that there is more to this story than Bennett calling the Packers' organization a bunch of liars and the Packers acting like like jilted lovers - there has to be right?

However, on the surface, that's exactly what it is, and neither side of the argument escapes without a significant hit to their position, and it's hard to distinguish which one looks worse. As for Bennett, he appears as a grass-isn't-always-greener fence-hopper, shutting it down when Packers' quarterback Aaron Rodgers suffered what may be a season-ending fractured clavicle...

...while the Packers appear to be involved in some sort of preternatural damage control scheme, trying to save face for a bad free agency fit by blaming everything on the player when there is clear evidence that Bennett's injury, while indeed preexisting -  was well-documented.

While that documentation appears to be an albatross around the necks of the Packers' organization, there is still the matter of Bennett quitting on his team when the going got tough - a blueprint that was fresh off the presses from 2014 when running back LeGarrette Blount walked out on the Pittsburgh Steelers and eventually ended up back in Foxborough.

Blount took some heat for the way he walked out on his teammates and Bennett has already raised the ire of Rodgers and several other Packers for his portrayal of the team physician as a corrupt, blamestorming quack that is a pulling a "Commander Stone", the doctor claiming that Bennett didn't reveal his existing injury during his initial physical before signing on.

So no one in this filthy drama is innocent, and while the Packers seek to recoup their signing bonus from Bennett, of which he has been payed $2.1 million of a guaranteed $6.3 million, Bennett is reportedly set to suit up for the Patriots as they face the Broncos in Denver on Sunday night.

To many, the fact that Bennett is back in New England where he won a title last season with the Patriots seems like a case of dark malfeasance on the part of the Patriots' organization, perhaps even collusion, as this is the second such incident in three years. But unlike what happened with Blount, whom the Patriots waited on the clear waivers before approaching him with an offer, New England submitted a claim to the league office on Bennett, and was awarded the player when no other team stepped forward.

Obviously, this has nothing to do with the Patriots, other than they are set to reap the windfall of having Bennett back in the lineup.

This controversy is far from over, and probably will not be settled by anything less than an official investigation and a formal arbiter - and probably not until the offseason. But in this case, if you will pardon the pun, this is exactly what the doctor ordered for New England's offense.

Patriots' Lack Of Outside-The-Numbers Receivers A Concern Against Broncos' "No Fly Zone"

The New England Patriots are at a distinct disadvantage going into their matchup with the Broncos in Denver on Sunday night, and until this past Thursday afternoon, it was something that they could do little about.

The Denver Broncos, as usual, sport one of the best defensive units in the National Football League, ranking fourth in the league in pass defense and are fifth against the run - and when one adds in the fact that the Patriots have traditional had a difficult time generating offense in the Mile High City, all of the signs point to a stagnation of what is a potential juggernaut.

Adding to the Patriots' woes is the fact that they have only two wide receivers that are fully healthy and just three that are going to suit up for the game, a circumstance that plays right into the strength of the Broncos' defense: their secondary.

Known as the "No-Fly Zone", Denver's secondary has given Patriots' quarterback Tom Brady a rough go in the recent past, holding the greatest of all time to 177 passing yards in their last encounter, a hard-fought 16-3 Patriots victory last season - and that was with Julian Edelman, Chris Hogan and Malcolm Mitchell in the lineup, three cats that won't be in uniform on Sunday night.

What they do have, however, may be enough to keep the Broncos' secondary busy, but in a different way.

That is mainly because one pass catcher who did miss that last contest and that will be dressed and ready for this year's battle is tight end Rob Gronkowski, who can change the complexion of a game single-handedly - and when combined with recently reacquired tight end Martellus Bennett, they give the Patriots a way to put stress on Denver's safeties and linebackers in manner that they weren't able to last season.

Bennett actually played in that game in Denver, but like everyone else not named Edelman, he struggled to get open, catching just two balls for 35 yards - though his real impact came in the running game, as his powerful pulling and blocking helped running back Dion Lewis pick up 5.3 yards per carry as the sole difference maker on the stat sheet.

That win actually seems like a precursor to what is going on with the Patriots' offense in the last four games of this season, red zone struggles leading to leaving points on the field, New England settling for field goals instead of scoring touchdowns - but things should be a little different this time around, especially if Bennett, who made the trip to Denver with the team and is a game-time decision, suits up and plays.

How effective he would be remains to be seen, but there should be a sense of optimism with Patriots' fans in regard to his readiness to play, as he is coming off three-weeks of R&R and has likely retained the Patriots' offensive playbook with intimate clarity - but if he doesn't play, New England is up against it against the Broncos' pass defense, as they will likely load up the pass rush and come after Brady with gusto.

And why not? The only healthy receivers on the depth chart are speedy vertical targets in Brandin Cooks and the seldom targeted Phillip Dorsett, and slot man Danny Amendola is going to try and play through a bum knee. Gronkowski is the only tight end worth note, and the lack of outside-the-numbers targets for New England could help the Broncos keep him penned up with linebacker-safety double teams...

...while the potent Denver pass rush could be compounded by rogue blitzers that could negate any potential contribution from the Patriots' backs, forcing them to remain in the pocket to help protect Brady.

Either way, there is no easy solution to what the Broncos are on defense, which is built in such a way that they can stop the run (second in the NFL by allowing just 3.4 yards per carry) and force the ball to the air, and with New England being so short outside of the numbers, that could make for a long evening - and don't be fooled by the fact that they are ranked 25th in the league in scoring defense, as their ranking has fallen precipitously by their injury-driven collapse in the past two games.

They gave up 29 points to a potent Chiefs offense two weeks ago and the Eagles offensive juggernaut hung a fifty-burger on them last week, but those teams are far healthier on offense than the Patriots are now, plus New England's well-known struggles in the red zone may very well come into play. The only solution is for New England to grind it out with the run, move the chains and take well-timed shots downfield.

The Patriots' defense and special teams play a major role in this scenario, as the way to beat any team in the National Football League is to make it as difficult as possible for the opposing offense to reach paydirt.

In the last four games, punter Ryan Allen, kicker Stephen Gostkowski and the New England coverage teams have managed to flip field position on their opponents with regularity, ranking second in the NFL in opponent's starting position, which forces the opposing offense to have to go further to get into scoring position - which is a good thing, since the defense has been giving up nearly forty yards per drive.

Of course, the Broncos' offense has been a middle-of-the-pack entity all season, but have taken a nose dive in the past four games - all four of them recorded as losses - failing to break the 200 passing yards plateau and being held short of seventy yards rushing in three of those games, and averaging a minute 13 points per game...

...which is almost exactly what the Patriots' defense has given up in that time span (12.5), though Denver can take solace in the fact that New England remains last in the league in total yardage surrendered, and that Defensive coordinator Matt Patricia has been holding his secondary together with duct tape and prayers.

They are dead last in total defense, in passing yards yielded and in yards per carry in the running game - which is mitigated to a large degree by the fact that New England stiffens the deeper the opponent gets into their territory, ranking fifth in the league in red zone defense - a stat line that justifies their bend-but-don't-break philosophy.

So what does all of this mean?

Absolutely nothing, as when these two teams get together it always seems to turn into a barn-burner, an instant classic with plenty of defense and usually the team that has the football last tends to win the game - but if the Patriots can somehow find a way to run the ball on offense and stop the run on defense, as tall task either way, they could cruise to an easy win...

...but if not, they could struggle mightily and turn a simple sweep and clear of a downward-trending Broncos team into a street fight that comes down to the last possession.

New England Patriots Midseason Forum - Part 4: Tight End Stable Gets Major Boost By Re-Signing The "Black Unicorn"

"I could run all day. I'm kind of like a black unicorn out there. It's amazing to watch. You go out there and see a big black guy running down the field, it's usually me." - Martellus Bennett

One would think that some team - any team - would have claimed tight end Martellus Bennett off waivers from the Green Bay Packers just to keep his former employer, the New England Patriots, from doing so.

But no one did except those crafty Patriots, who pulled a LeGarrett Blount-style mid-season dumpster dive to pick up a legitimate tried and true weapon that won't take much time getting up to speed since Bennett is only nine months removed from being an integral part of a Patriots' offense that won a World Championship in February.

The self-proclaimed "Black Unicorn" played in all sixteen regular season games for New England in 2016, toughing out shoulder, knee and ankle injuries to put together the third-best statistical season of his career, his 55 catches for 701 yards and seven touchdowns eclipsed only by his first two years in Chicago, where he earned Pro Bowl honors in 2014.

In addition, Bennett was a force in the post-season, catching five balls in the AFC Championship Game against Pittsburgh, then five more in the Super Bowl against the Atlanta Falcons, as well as drawing a pass interference call in the end zone against the Falcons' De'Vondre Campbell to set up James White's two yard touchdown run that sealed the title.

He was dismissed by the Packers for failing to advise the team of a shoulder injury, and while that is the official story, it could be speculated that Bennett wore out his welcome with his infamous rants, especially recent ones in which he told the press that he was considering retirement at the end of the season.

Whatever the case, Bennett's return to Foxborough couldn't have come at more fortuitous juncture, as the Patriots have more pass catchers on the shelf than they do on the field.

In addition to losing top receiver Julian Edelman for the season, both Chris Hogan and Danny Amendola are battling injuries, with Hogan expected to be on the shelf for a couple of weeks - that leaves just Brandin Cooks and Phillip Dorsett - two players that weren't on the roster last season - as the only healthy options among wide receivers for quarterback Tom Brady to target.

The good news is that Bennett joins All-World tight end Rob Gronkowski and a backfield full of versatile playmakers to form what has become the most unique collection of weapons in the league.

The best part to the waiver claim is that the Patriots now control the final two years left on his Packers' contract, with the only stipulation being a $2 million roster bonus due at the start of the 2018 league year, which is essentially a team option. The only guarantees on his contract were a series of prorated signing bonus payments totaling $6.3 million, $4.2 million of which the Packers had to eat as a dead money hit.

The irony here is, of course, that the Patriots had reportedly offered Bennett a contract extension upon acquiring him from the Bears last season, similar to the one that the Patriots absorb in picking up the Packers' contract, his cap hit for 2018 - one that includes the aforementioned roster bonus - is $6.45 million and then $6.5 million in 2019.

Those are affordable numbers, as is the remainder of his 2017 salary of just $724k, not only for the insurance that the durable Bennett provides at the position, but also for the serious 1-2 punch that New England can unleash upon their foes in tandem with Gronkowski.

How serious? Well, when you consider that in the five games that the two played together last season in which Gronkowski wasn't under any snap count restrictions, they combined for 47 catches for 786 yards and six touchdowns - that averages out to nine receptions for 157 yards and one score per game...

...and if you spread that over a full season, you get a completely ridiculous stat line of 150 receptions for 2,512 yards and 19 touchdowns.

It's not tangible to expect that kind of production from the two tight end set - even though the Gronkowski-Hernandez tandem gave the team a similar stat line in 2012 - but Bennett's range and blocking prowess is a part of the total package that goes unnoticed by the casual fan and adds to the intrigue.

Both Gronkowski and Bennett - as well as free-agent pickup Dwayne Allen - are devastating blockers in the running game and are able on the edge in pass protection, adding a layer of versatility that is rare in professional football, and along with their well-documented skill in the pattern makes them almost a requirement as the Patriots will certainly turn to more 12 personnel (one back, two tight ends) looks...

...an alignment that will now require defenses to dedicate safeties and linebackers to coverage which, in theory, will lighten the box against the running game and force single high safety formations that will strap the coverage on the vertical game.

Bennett's presence will certainly cut into Allen's snap count (not to mention send rookie Jacob Hollister to the practice squad), but will also allow him to operate in the background, which may jump start his production in the passing game and also make Jumbo sets (two backs and three tight ends) so versatile that it would be nearly impossible to stop in short yardage and in the red zone, as defenses would have to keep the box light in the event Gronkowski and/or Bennett peel off the edge and into the pattern.

Make no mistake, if Bennett is motivated and reasonably healthy, the Patriots' waiver claim on him could be the piece to the puzzle that gets the offensive juggernaut rolling.

Money Not Biggest Reason Players Depart From New England In Free Agency

Martellus Bennett signed with the Green Bay Packers for $6 million per year.  Jaball Sheard and Barkevious Mingo went to Indianapolis for $7.5 million and $2.5 million, respectively.  Chris Long just left with no forwarding address.

While it is not known what, if anything, was offered to Sheard or Mingo or Long, we do know that Bennett was offered $1 million more per year to sign an extension with New England before the start of the 2016 season - his reason?  Well, we didn't know until now, and it's the same reason why the other three left.

Playing time - or in Bennett's case, touches.

Long said as much in his farewell tweet to the fans of New England, as he had been long-used to being on the field in a full-time role with the Rams, but when he and Sheard were relegated to situational roles as part of the Patriots' overall defensive scheme, it was only a matter of time before their attitudes got the best of them.

For Sheard, that happened in late November when he was benched and left behind on the Patriots' west coast trip, but Long stuck it out, won his ring, and now wants to end his likely Hall of Fame career somewhere that he can contribute more than he did with New England.  Both players finished the season strong, both contributed to the epic Super Bowl comeback and both can be proud of their efforts.

Mingo played only 54 defensive snaps in his time in Foxborough, but contributed mightily on special teams, though collecting just four tackles - it was a role he played similarly in Cleveland before Belichick traded for him in the preseason, and one that he hopes to build on in Indianapolis.

That said, Mingo had no option but to suit up for New England as he arrived via trade, but Long and Sheard both knew the score when they signed.

The Patriots have long been known for situational rotation in their front seven, a philosophy that, along with Belichcik's intense, season-long, after practice conditioning program is designed to keep his bigs up front fresh for the fourth quarter, has been the difference between winning and losing close games - a philosophy that manifested it's success this past post-season.

The philosophy, known loosely in it's entirety as "Bend but don't break", saw New England's defense take their opponent's best shot in the first half and yielding an average of 14 points while their foe was still fresh - but when their opponent begins to tire in the second half, the Patriots' rotation on defense starts to manifest and the result in the playoffs saw them give up just a miserly 6 points.

And teams that have quick strike offenses - like the Atlanta Falcons, for example - are at a particular disadvantage, as their philosophies tend to keep their time of possession down and puts their defense back on the field before they are properly rested.

It has worked that way for years, and it's no secret - and while one has to wonder why other teams in the league don't employ such a proven tactic, the answer is very simple: most other teams employ players who are bigger names that have egos requiring maximum playing time to satiate, piling up stats as they go along. Even the Patriots' secondary follows a loose rotation in which the corners switch up coverages so as not to be run ragged by deep threats and the safeties in the Big Nickel take on added responsibility.

So defensive players coming to New England understand that, for the most part, they are going to have to share the wealth as far as playing time, and stats be damned.

But what about Bennett?  The self-titled "Black Unicorn" enjoyed the most successful season of his career by far, and also enjoyed the best catch percentage of his career, but his overall statistics told a story of a man limited by the offensive scheme, one that employs a certain All Pro named Rob Gronkowski, who is ready and raring to go when the 2017 season begins...

...not to mention that he was competing for touches with names such as Julian Edelman, Chris Hogan and passing back James White, with Edelman and White easily outdistancing him with targets and catches, and Gronkowski was on pace to obliterate Bennett's targets and catches as well before suffering a season-ending back injury.

Now, however, Bennett is going to a place where he will be the playmaking tight end and catching balls from a magician named Aaron Rogers in an offense that saw it's tight ends catch a combined 60 passes last season.

Green Bay let primary tight end Jared Cook leave in free agency, then signed former-Ram Lance Kendricks to compliment Bennett, much the same way Bennett complimented Gronkowski in New England - and one has to wonder if Bennett was on board with the decision to bring Kendricks in, knowing that the six-year veteran will be cutting into his touches.

Regardless, the deed has been done and Bennett is a Green Bay Packer.  He has earned to right to go where he wishes and he couldn't have landed in a better spot outside of New England.

In the end, all of this answers Patriots' fans' questions like why the team doesn't normally sign big-name players when there are so many on the open market.  It's not always a matter of cap space, nor simply a matter of compensation, overall - instead, it comes down to a matter of patience in the front office, letting the market dictate a player's worth and allowing them to slide down the scale...

...not so much to limit the amount that they pay a player, but to give the Patriots leverage in negotiations while selling their philosophy.

Thus far in free agency, New England has lost a couple of players, re-signed most of their core players, and have been selective in offering contracts to players on the market, with only cornerback Stephon Gilmore and defensive end Lawrence Guy having been added to the roster.  The rest of the new blood have entered the region via trade, having been identified as players that Belichick can further build his game plans around...

...at the same time absorbing mostly team-friendly salaries, which makes all of them the sort of low-risk, high-reward rotational role players that make the Patriots annual contenders - and five-time Super Bowl champions in the Belichick era.

Patriots Free Agents - Thursday's Updated Facts And Rumors

An up-to-date listing of the Patriots' impending free agent movement and rumors, as of 3/8/17:

Malcolm Butler:  In a shocking development, it has been revealed that the Patriots are considering an offer from the New Orleans Saints to acquire wide receiver Brandon Cooks in exchange for Butler. It's not that surprising to see something like this emerge as the Patriots tried to finagle the lightning fast Cooks from the Saints a couple of weeks ago, but were unwilling to pay New Orleans' asking price of a first-round draft pick.

New England landing Stephone Gilmore and signing him to a rich (read, Hightower money) five year contract and Belichick's penchant for unloading contract year players to obtain maximum value for them lends plenty of stick-to-it-iveness to the report.  That said, if the season were to start today, the starting corners would be Gilmore and mid-season pickup Eric Rowe.

What makes this rumored deal even more enticing is the fact that Cooks is signed through 2018 on a very cap-friendly contract, and has the ability to take the lid off of defenses with his 4.33 speed and sure hands.

The rest of today's free agency developments:

Three-tech defensive tackle Branch (97) is back in the fold

Alan Branch:  Considered a must-sign, the Patriots did just that on Thursday, inking the behemoth defensive tackle to a two year, incentive-laden contract that is reported to be worth "up to" $6 million annually.  Great news for the middle of the Patriots defensive line.

Logan Ryan:  Add the Steelers, Bears and Lions to teams pursuing Ryan, whose commodity has risen substantially the closer we get to the start of the league year.  With the Patriots uncharacteristically ponying up $14 million a year for the hot and cold former Bills corner Stephone Gilmore, it appears Ryan's days in New England are done.

Duron Harmon:  According to several sources, the Patriots are working on a long-term deal to retain Harmon, whose presence would solidify a secondary that has been upgraded (depending on your point of view) by Belichick, and would certainly keep his preferred "Big Nickel" alignment in play for the foreseeable future.  This was expected, as we reported yesterday, "he has more upside and value with the Patriots than just about any other team, and shouldn't command a lot on the open market."

Update: Harmon has signed a four-year, $20 million contract to remain with the Patriots.

Martellus Bennett:  The list of teams enticed by Bennett has grown to include the Raiders, 49ers and Jaguars after being linked to Giants, Jaguars and possibly Detroit and Miami as well.  The potential bidding war and Bennett's comments about being intrigued with playing in northern California mixed with the Patriots' signing of the Colts' Dwayne Allen means that his days in New England ore over.

Dont'a Hightower:  The Patriots have had what Hightower calls "Positive talks" in retaining the Pro Bowl linebacker, but interest is rumored to be high among the Lions, Dolphins and Browns. Tennessee has reportedly entered the sweepstakes for his services and the fact that he posted an Instagram pic from Nashville last evening lends credence to their interest...and his.

Michael Floyd: Currently serving a 120-day jail sentence, the biggest loser in the rumored Butler-for-Cooks deal would be Floyd, as he was on shaky ground to begin with after being left off the Patriots active roster after a terrible divisional round performance where he appeared to run improper routes.

No updates for the following players:

Cameron Fleming:  Huge "sixth lineman" and restricted free agent was tendered at his original fourth round level, which is worth nearly $2 million in 2017 if not signed by another team.  If he is, the Patriots will receive that team's fourth round selection.

Jaball Sheard: No news on the defensive end.  He could be considered damaged goods by being internally suspended by Belichick in mid-season, driving his market price down.

Chris Long:  Announced via Twitter that he would not be re-signing with New England because he wants a bigger role than Belichick can promise.  That announcement, along with the uncertainty over Sheard and the aging of stalwart Rob Ninkovich could potentially leave the Patriots in desperation along the edges.  Look for the team to pursue a free agent or go high in the draft for an edge player.

Barkeveous Mingo:  Rumors all over the place about Mingo, who played just 54 snaps for New England last season. Perhaps some team has visions of him being the explosive pass rusher he was in college, something that he showed in the preseason with the Patriots, but never materialized in the regular season as he was relegated to primarily special teams.

LeGarrette Blount:  His annual foray into free agency will probably not garner him much more than what he made last season, so there is a chance he could return to New England on a similar deal.

Brandon Bolden:  No news out of Foxborough on the special teams core player.

Patriots Free Agents - Updated Facts And Rumors

An up-to-date listing of the Patriots' impending free agent movement and rumors, as of 3/8/17:

Martellus Bennett:  Linked to Giants, Jaguars and Bills according to Jason La Canforna, possibly Detroit and Miami as well.

Dont'a Hightower:  The Patriots have had what Hightower calls "Positive talks" in retaining the Pro Bowl linebacker, but interest is rumored to be high among the Lions, Dolphins and Browns.  A wildcard in the Hightower sweepstakes could be Oakland.

Both Hightower (54) and Sheard (93) are unrestricted free agents

Malcolm Butler:  The team tagged the restricted free agent with a first-round tender worth nearly four million dollars.  If any team puts in a bid on the Pro Bowl corner without the Patriots matching, that team will owe New England a first-round draft pick.  That scenario seems unlikely.

James Develin:  Patriots signed the fullback to a two-year $2.85 million contract with a $300,000 signing bonus.

LeGarrette Blount:  His annual foray into free agency will probably not garner him much more than what he made last season, so there is a chance he could return to New England on a similar deal.

Brandon Bolden:  No news out of Foxborough on the special teams core player.

Michael Floyd: Currently serving a 120-day jail sentence, there is little talk about Floyd.  He became sort of a cult hero in his limited body of work with New England last season, but was left off the active roster after a terrible divisional round performance where he appeared to run improper routes. He could be back at the right price, but no one but Bill Belichick knows what that is.

Sebatstian Vollmer: As expected, his days in New England are officially over after being cut early this week.

Cameron Fleming:  Huge "sixth lineman" and restricted free agent was tendered at his original fourth round level, which is worth nearly $2 million in 2017 if not signed by another team.  If he is, the Patriots will receive that team's fourth round selection.

Jaball Sheard: No news on the defensive end.  He could be considered damaged goods by being internally suspended by Belichick in mid-season, driving his market price down.

Chris Long:  Announced via Twitter that he would not be re-signing with New England because he wants a bigger role than Belichick can promise.  That announcement, along with the uncertainty over Sheard and the aging of stalwart Rob Ninkovich could potentially leave the Patriots in desperation along the edges.  Look for the team to pursue a free agent or go high in the draft for an edge player.

Alan Branch:  No news yet on Branch, but it sounds as if he's open to returning to New England and probably wouldn't break the bank.  A must-sign under the circumstances.

Barkeveous Mingo:  Rumors all over the place about Mingo, who played just 54 snaps for New England last season. Perhaps some team has visions of him being the explosive pass rusher he was in college, something that he showed in the preseason with the Patriots, but never materialized in the regular season as he was relegated to primarily special teams.

Logan Ryan:  The Bengals are prepared to break the bank to sign Ryan.  That said, they annually overpay for players in the secondary with little return for their investment, and have offered big money to incumbent corner Dre Kirkpatrick.  Ryan's tenure is up in the air, particularly since the Patriots just extended Justin Coleman, but just like all of Belichick's free agents, the market will dictate his value.

Duron Harmon: He has more upside and value with the Patriots than just about any other team, and shouldn't command a lot on the open market.  The one thing that could be enticing to him is if a team offers him a chance to get starter's snaps, but he gets plenty in Foxborough to begin with.  The market will dictate his price.

Reloading The Musket, Part 3 - Tight End Position In Flux Pending Gronk, Bennett Assessment

Rob Gronkowski is a singular talent.

A bit jaded on the injury front, perhaps, and some would say his off-field behavior borders on puerile - but when the guy is on the football field, he is a weapon capable of previously unimaginable ruin. He has speed to not only challenge the seam, but also to take a defender deep down the sideline - a speed that belies his gargantuan size and lumbering style.

Gronkowski could legitimately play right tackle in a pinch, such is his road grading skill that features the athleticism and grit to pull into the middle of the line and trade shots with run-plugging linebackers - but the most aesthetically pleasing part of Gronkowski's game is watching him punish defenses with the ball in his hands, after the catch.

He's a big target, both to quarterback Tom Brady and, unfortunately, defenses alike.

Gronkowski has played in eighty-eight of a possible 112 games since coming into the league, his two dozen games missed attributed to a broken forearm that lingered through parts of two seasons and a torn ACL that sapped half of another, plus another couple of games here and there to manage his health.

Gronkowski plays an all-or-nothing style of football, combining his aforementioned freakish ability with a bully's mentality and a nose for the end zone - accounting for almost 6,100 yards and 68 touchdowns in his seven-year career (yes, it's been that long), a pace that will make him the greatest tight end in the history of the national football league, statistically speaking, midway through his eleventh season so far as touchdowns are concerned...

...but it will take ten more seasons to match record holder Tony Gonzalez in receptions and yardage - which seems out of reach when considering Gronkowski's injury history, which now includes time missed for a slipped disk in his back.

The back issue isn't a new thing, however.  Gronkowski missed his entire 2009 season - his Junior year at the University of Arizona - after having surgery for a slipped disk.  He declared for the NFL rather than redshirt and while a first-round talent in the eyes of many, coming off a season lost to a potentially debilitating  injury saw him fall right into New England's lap in the second round of the 2010 NFL draft.

So, it isn't as if the Patriots were not aware of his injury history when they drafted him, nor when they signed him to the then-most lucrative contract ever for a tight end before the 2012 season which pays him $9 million annually, on average, and the team took steps to protect themselves long-term in case Gronkowski's body broke down beyond repair.

So any talk or speculation of the Patriots trying to rid themselves of Gronkowski is a fool's errand, considering that he counts only $6.75 million against the cap in 2017, a bargain basement number when compared to his production when he's on the field - and is, in fact, just the fifth-highest number in the league among tight ends.

But what makes Gronkowski taboo so far as trading him is concerned is that $6 million of that figure is guaranteed, and to trade him would invoke a dead money hit for the entire guaranteed number - which is a huge hit to the salary cap for a player that is no longer on the roster.  In the end, Gronkowski will be a Patriot come September, so don't believe all of the ignorant rumors being bandied about.

That said, and Gronkowski aside, for a team that values their tight ends as much or more than any other in the league, the New England Patriots sure have a lot of question marks headed into the offseason.

The main question revolves around Martellus Bennett, who qualifies as a both journeyman and a nomad. A journeyman, because he plies his trade as a reliable pass catcher and blocker, but also a nomad because the Patriots are his fourth team in nine years, and his third team in the last five seasons.

Bennett jokingly said after the Super Bowl that "Teams overpay for Super Bowl Champions", then tweeted later in the evening that he was in jest - but chasing money is something that the man who calls himself the "Black Unicorn" has a history of, which is why not everyone is buying his amendment.

After four seasons of playing behind Jason Whitten in Dallas, Bennett signed a one-year "Prove it" type of contract with the New York Giants since his numbers in Dallas were limited due to lack of targets, and he excelled in New York as the tight end on the roster, then cashed in with Chicago on a four year, $20 million contract with the Bears that made him the 16th highest paid tight end in the league.

But after his second season in Chicago, when his 90 catch season landed him in the Pro Bowl - ironically as Gronkowski's replacement since he was committed to the Super Bowl - Bennett held out of camp in 2015 looking for more money, ended up on the wrong side of Jon Fox's and Adam Gase's dog house and ended up being traded to the Patriots after the season.

That brings up an interesting little tidbit that may or may not turn out to be relevant, as the Miami Dolphins have publicly stated - unsolicited, mind you - that Bennett was not a candidate for the tight end-needy Dolphins, and that is believed to be in regard to Gase being the head coach.  How much of that, if any, will resonate with other teams looking for a tight end when his former offensive coordinator with the Bears refuses to have anything to do with him?

Bennett is outspoken, for certain, and has openly trashed the Bears organization, saying that "We just had a bunch of bitches on the roster.  That's why we didn't win games, and coaches liked the bitches." - and this after Gase offered the highest praise of Bennett, calling him "almost as good as most left tackles" in the NFL for his pass protection skill.

The median wage for starting tight ends in the National Football League is $7.3 million per season, and Bennett has already rejected a multi-year offer from the Patriots that would have paid him seven million annually, and could probably sweeten that a little bit to take him into the top six salaries in the league at around eight million - but they are not going to go above and beyond Gronkowski's nine million annually, nor should they.

The wildcard for Bennett, however, is that Seattle is pondering letting go of under-performing Jimmy Graham and his best-in-the-league salary - a move that, if true, could cut in two different directions.  First, with Graham on the market it could cut into Bennett's value on the open market as well as restricting his options - but on the other hand, releasing Graham would make the Seahawks a prime landing spot for the Black Unicorn, uniting him with his older brother, Seahawk defensive end, Michael.

New England could put all speculation to rest by assigning their franchise tag to Bennett and pay him a little over $9 million, guaranteed, for the 2017 season - a move that may not set well with Gronkowski, who has hinted that he wouldn't say no to a pay raise.

Madness, all of it, but it doesn't end there.

The Patriots signed former Cardinals' tight end Rob Housler to a futures contract after the Super Bowl - but Housler bring nothing in the blocking scheme and is essentially a really tall wide receiver - and the Patriots already have Matt Lengel on the roster, but he is more of an in-line blocker and offers very little in the passing game - and the New England can't afford to be one-dimensional with their weapons in that manner...

...but with Bennett being The Catch in a very weak free agent market, he could be right that a team would over pay him, so then the Patriots would have to turn to the draft to snag anything worth putting on the field opposite Gronkowski in 2017.

The top of the class promotes Alabama's O.J. Howard as number one on the big board, but he is more of a Housler type, with great hands and decent speed, but offers nothing in pass pro or run blocking.  Ole Miss tight end Evan Engram is a second day possibility as his size, speed and playing style would remind Patriots' fans of their long lost thug Aaron Hernandez, who was on his way to superstardom before going on a murderous rampage.

Miami's David Njoku is already considered a first round pass catching talent, and blocks well enough to be taken early as a project of an all-around tight end, and probably has the most potential in the tight end class.  But the best prospect for the Patriots is probably Virginia Tech's Bucky Hodges, a fast, athletic pass catcher who, like most tight ends coming out of college these days, is more of an overgrown wide receiver, but at 6' 7" and 245 pounds, he has some toughness in the blocking scheme.

There are other college prospects that offer mid-round athleticism, like Ohio State's Jake Butt, Arkansas' Jeremy Sprinkle (who is a mid-round sleeper), and Ashland College behemoth Adam Shaheen at 6' 6" and a massive 277 pounds is a freakish red zone target and good run blocker, and Florida International's Jonnu Smith is a "move" tight end prospect with electric moves and wide receiver speed, plus is an outstanding blocker.

Obviously, there are more prospects, but the Patriots need to assess Gronkowski's availability and Bennett's psyche before considering their next move at the position.

Super Bowl LI - Patriots' Receivers, Akin To Misfits, Bask In Belichick's Offensive System

Keyshawn Johnson was right.

Sort of.

The loquacious, quite well-traveled former NFL wide receiver said on Friday that none of the receivers on the New England Patriots roster wouldn't find themselves on any other team's depth chart, simply because they are a product of the Patriots' system, which accentuates their limited individual skill sets.

Players no one else wanted: Hogan and Brady represent lethal hook up

Where the former Jets, Bucs, 'boys and Panthers' pass catcher has a point is where recent history suggests that receivers whom have been part of the New England culture since head ball coach Bill Belichick arrived on the scene at the turn of the century, just haven't been impactful - neither before they arrive on campus, nor after the leave.

Where Johnson is off the mark is when he says they are a product of the system - because they aren't a product of the system, they are the system.

You see, where most coaches and personnel men select players whom they can integrate into their offensive scheme, Belichick builds his scheme around his receivers combined skill set.  This allows Belichick much more latitude in game planning, expanding the concepts in his playbook and allowing a seemingly endless combination of personnel packages.

It's the theory of not trying to jam a square peg into a round hole, rather, to bore out the round hole to allow the square peg to fit.

And while Johnson is mostly correct in his assertion that Patriots' wide receivers wouldn't be contributing factors in most other passing games around the league, it is also true that Belichick is consistently above the curve when it comes to innovation - his concept-driven offensive philosophy requiring above average intelligence and intestinal fortitude, and if you have those things, he will put you in the position to succeed.

But Belichick is under no obligation to ensure that any player who leaves his team is ready to take on any other scheme - and, as we've seen and as Johnson points out, many are not.

Belichick's offense is predicated on the old New England standard introduced by offensive coordinators Ron Erhardt and Ray Perkins during their time together on Chuck Faurbanks' staff during the early and middle parts of the 1970s, and include the same plays that would conjure memories if one had played high school ball...

...only that the defense has no way of determining what they plays are because they are run from what coaches refer to as "concepts", which means that these simple and fundamental plays are formed in a group, depending on the personnel on the field, that gives the quarterback a myriad of options to take advantage of whatever formation the defense has committed to on any given play.

The concepts are easy for the players to learn, as they form a mental picture of routes, blocking assignments and running gaps from a single word.

Everyone who watches football hears a quarterback barking out numerical and linguistic instructions to the other ten offensive players on the field, and for most teams, the quarterback is simply calling an audible - changing the play at the line of scrimmage - or setting different blocking instructions for his linemen, but when one hears Patriots' quarterback Tom Brady's cadence, he is actually calling the play at the line of scrimmage.

The Patriots are able to do this because of their personnel, as every player on the field at any given time has the skill set that enables Brady to shift them into any position in the formation, knowing that each player is capable of running the route assigned to the position - in effect, each player has an interchangeable skill set that has been incorporated into the offensive system during the previous offseason and implemented during training camp.

If there is a drawback to the system, we saw it during the 2013 and 2015 seasons when the Patriots lost so many players to injury that the system broke down when replacement players were signed out of desperation, limiting the offense to simply running plays instead of utilizing their conceptual scheme.

In both seasons, the team lost enough pass catching threats that it altered the play calling to more of a bare bones playbook, reducing them to one-dimensional entities that better defenses in the NFL were able to take advantage of, losing in the AFC title game to Denver in both seasons because they simply couldn't impose their will on the Broncos' top-rated defense.

To combat this, Belichick turned his attention to depth signings this past offseason, not willing to chance losing another season because his offense couldn't operate at max-efficiency.

For example, instead of keeping his fingers crossed that All World tight end Rob Gronkowski could make it through an entire season unscathed, he send a late-round draft pick to Chicago to acquire Pro Bowl tight end Martellus Bennett - and while this move solicited visions of a revisitation to the days of Gronkowski and now-incarcerated thug Aaron Hernadez terrifying opposing defenses with a two-tight end attack, it was instead a depth move that worked out famously when Gronkowski went down midway through the season.

Similar moves have been made in the past few seasons, with names such as Chris Hogan and Dion Lewis brought in to ensure that injury wouldn't limit their conceptual system - a system that have seen them in six consecutive AFC Championship games in as many seasons, and are now vying for their second World title in three tries during the same time span.

The good news for the Patriots is that, with the exception of Gronkowski, the Patriots are whole on offense with no limitation to their concepts.  The bad news for their opponents, the NFC Champion Atlanta Falcons, is that no team in the past two-plus seasons have been able to contain the Patriots' offense with a full complement of weapons effectively enough to give their own offense a chance to outscore them.

The Falcons, in fact, are very similar defensively to what the Pittsburgh Steelers fielded in their title tilt showdown with New England, in that they are mediocre against the run, surrendering an eye-popping 4.5 yards per rush, while their secondary ranks in the bottom five - a number that is a bit deceiving in that Atlanta's offense tends to jump out to huge early leads, forcing the opposing offenses to be one-dimensional to play catch-up.

The result, of course, is that Atlanta's pass rushers pin their ears back and come after the opposing quarterback and their secondary goes into a dime look where they can shut down ordinary receivers playing in ordinary passing attacks.

Of course, the Patriots have anything but an ordinary attack and are led by the greatest quarterback to ever take a snap, playing in a system designed to take advantage of the considerable individual skill sets of their players - and with New England's offense playing with a full complement of weapons, feeding off of the top scoring defense in the National Football League, the chances for  Falcon's victory seem dim...

...and all of this from a collection of receivers that wouldn't be able to make another team's roster.

So says Keyshawn Johnson, anyway.

Patriots Stomp Dolphins; Secure Top Seed, Homefield Advantage

The Miami Dolphins did what they always do.

Against the New England Patriots on Sunday afternoon, the Dolphins got off to a slow start, but somehow managed to stick around and cut a three score deficit down to one early in the third quarter and had the Patriots in a third and long at their own 23 yard line, and the Miami fans in the stadium could feel the momentum shifting towards their Dolphins.

Then the Patriots did what they always do.

Julian Edelman caught a quick out from quarterback Tom Brady just across his own 30 yard line, made a quick move to the inside, eluding a weak attempt at an ankle tackle from Bacarri Rambo and split a pair of defenders who apparently thought Rambo would bring Edelman down - one of whom absorbed a savage hit from New England Patriots receiver Michael Floyd...

...a blindside job that liquefied Lippett's extremities and opened up the rest of the field for Edelman's 77 yard touchdown catch and run - Edelman saw the hit coming and even felt compelled to shift into an extra gear that he wasn't sure he had, because there wasn't much separation between him and Lippett, and Edelman didn't want any part of what was about to happen behind him.

Floyd had been working downfield, and when he saw Edelman split the defenders he took the angle toward midfield, where he collided with Lippett and left him prone and drooling on the Dolphins logo while the Patriots celebrated in the end zone.

Just like that, the score was 27-14, then 35-14 moments later as the Patriots' offense converted a seventy yard fumble return by linebacker Shea McClellin into a short LeGarrette Blount touchdown rumble, and the Patriots were headed back to Foxborough with the number one seed in the upcoming AFC playoffs, and fourteen days to prepare for their first opponent.

Floyd's posterization of Lippett was only the final act of his coming out party with the Patriots, as earlier in the game he had several key blocks in the running game, then executed a textbook in-cut to score his first touchdown for his new team, catching the ball just inside the Dolphins' ten yard line, cutting into a gaggle of defenders massed at the five, then fought his way to the end zone in an impressive display of strength.

The game was an encapsulation of how the season has gone for both teams.  For Miami, they always seemed to dig a big hole for themselves, but were able to hang around and crawl out of those holes ten times coming into Sunday's tilt with the Patriots, who always seemed to get out to fast early leads, sleepwalk into the room at halftime and stumble back out, then recover in time to score a decisive blow.

The pudding of proof  for the Dolphins lies in the fact that they have played so many one score games this season - ten of their sixteen, to be exact - that they could just as easily have been playing for a division title as playing out their string, with the latter being the more believable of the two. Four of Miami's six losses have been by more than two touchdowns, while only two of their wins have been of the same margin.

New England, on the other hand, had only four games decided by two scores or less, and were 3-1 in those games, their average margin of victory a robust 12 points despite scoring at a clip of 27.5 points per game - their lowest average points per game since the 2009 squad went for 26.5 - the 35 points scored against the Dolphins on Sunday representing their second highest point total of the season.

How they ended up winning fourteen games isn't exactly a secret, however, as the two main factors being their incredible balance in their offensive attack, and the resiliency of their defense - and both were on full display at Hard Rock Stadium.

New England opened the game with two consecutive touchdown drives, leaning heavily on the running game in each. Six of New England's 13 play calls on the first drive were handoffs to either Blount or Dion Lewis - ending in a Martellus Bennett backline score - and three of the five plays run in the second drive went to Blount exclusively, culminating in Floyd's power play - the combined 59 yards on the ground representing nearly half of the Patriots' rushing yards for the game.

In fact, the Patriots had 94 rushing yards in a first half that they dominated, and only 26 in a second half in which is was more about the defense coming up large, despite once again giving up huge chunks of yardage, only to stiffen when it mattered most.

The New England defense forced five punts on ten Miami possessions and caused two turnovers, the second of which sealed the game for the Patriots.

Following the Edelman touchdown, the teams traded punts on four consecutive series before the Dolphins got something proper started to begin the fourth quarter, driving to the New England nine yard line and threatening to shave their deficit down to a single score again - but on second and goal, safety Devin McCourty punched the ball away from Miami passing back Damien Williams...

...linebacker Shea McClellin scooping up the loose ball in the left flat and rumbling down the left sideline to set up New England's final score.

The fourteen points surrendered by the Patriots' defense lowered their league-leading points per game average to 15.6, assuring them that they will finish the season as the top scoring defense in the NFL - and they did it the way they've done it all season, shutting down the Dolphins' powerful rushing game and limiting big plays in the passing game - in essence forcing Miami to dink and dunk their way down the field, chewing clock the entire time.

Miami tried to counter the Patriots' game plan by going up-tempo, and it worked as they scored both of their touchdowns in the hurry up offense, but New England adjusted by going full shift-change in the waning moments to rotate in fresh personnel.

Now the Patriots wait, rest, heal and sharpen their technique and focus - watching to see who will be coming to Foxborough to challenge them in the Divisional round of the playoffs, with the lowest surviving seed between Houston, Oakland and Miami the candidates...

Dolphins,Patriots Playing For Seeding, Will Not Rest Starters

Where would you rather have to play in the dead of winter in a one-and-done playoff scenario?

Your first choice is in a climate-controlled domed stadium against an opponent with a weaker record and who just barely qualified for the playoffs by winning the worst division in all of football, while your second choice is in an open-air stadium in the northeastern United States where the temperatures are liable to be in the teens with a windchill of negative connotations against a team that also just scraped into the playoffs, but are battle-tested in the tough AFC North.

Martellus Bennett is part of New England's downfield threat

If you are the Miami Dolphins and you have control over a scenario where you could go to Houston to face the offensively-challenged Texans in the Wildcard round of the 2016 NFL Playoffs, you do everything in your power to take that kind of favorable matchup - but if you don't, or can't, make that scenario come true, you will find yourself smack in the middle of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania against a Steelers team that is operating on all thrusters and as dangerous as any team in the tournament.

All the Dolphins have to do on Sunday to win a trip to Houston is to beat the visiting New England Patriots.

The Dolphins need this game if they want the easiest path to the Divisional round and perhaps even to the AFC Championship game - the Patriots just need it, for a plethora of reasons, not the least of which is to secure homefield advantage throughout the playoffs - but there is a far more dark reason.

You see, the Dolphins represent the best on-field challenge for New England, which in turn will keep the team sharp going into their first-round playoff bye without being over-challenging in game-planning and preparation, since they are a well-known commodity in Foxborough.  Miami is relentless and plays with the heart of an underdog, and what they do well is what the other teams in the AFC East do when playing the Patriots: They find a way to hang around and give themselves a shot to win in the fourth quarter.

But unlike the Buffalo Bills, who have no defense, and the New York Jets who have no offense, the Dolphins have just enough of both to make things tough for New England on Sunday.

Much has been made of Miami's "prolific" running attack, led by second-year back Jay Ajayi, but the fact of the matter is that their ground game runs hot and cold.  For all of the coverage Ajayi received for topping 200 yards in consecutive games around midseason, the Dolphins as a team hit triple-digits on the ground only six times, going for two hundred against the Steelers and twice against the Bills...

...but in games against average to good run defenses, they sport an average of just 84 yards per game on the ground, which feeds into what the Patriots defense does best.

The New England run defense is ranked third in the National Football League, which illustrates how the Patriots approach each game - priority one being to stop the opposition's running game, which they have by holding nine of their fifteen foes under the century mark, and five of their last six, a period which has seen the Patriots surrender a league low 72 yards per game.

The New England pass defense gave up a season-high 387 yards to Miami in week two, but in truth 308 of those passing yards came during a furious second half rally which saw the Dolphins recover from a 24-3 halftime deficit, cutting the Patriots' lead to seven and knocking on their doorstep in the final seconds for the tie before centerfielder Duron Harmon ended the threat with a clutch interception at the New England nine yard line.

And therein lies the rub. Miami is not excellent in any unit on offense, but they are relentless with the style of a mean counter-puncher - and they have to be, because their defense, particularly their run defense, is absolutely atrocious, having given up nearly 150 yards per game since their bye.

Good news for a Patriots' team that sports a top-ten running game themselves, that has averaged 117 yards per game since their own bye week - and that phase of the offense is going to be important to the Patriots as they face a Dolphins' pass defense that is vertically challenged. Miami's opponents have demonstrated great balance on offense, and the ability to remain patient, knowing that their running game will set up their intermediate to deep passing game...

...which New England actually has this season. Since the departure of Randy Moss, the Patriots have relied purely on the short "Dink-and-Dunk" passing game, employing garden gnomes as receivers and monoliths as tight ends, and tying the entire thing together with prolific passing backs - but this season, with the addition of former Buffalo Bill Chris Hogan and rookie Malcolm Mitchell, not to mention recent acquisition Michael Floyd, the Patriots have demonstrated a protracted ability to go over the top of defenses.

That makes New England's offense even more dangerous than they have been in previous meeting through the past few seasons with Miami, and affords them excellent balance and depth - which, despite the aforementioned struggles for the Dolphins on defense, will be as important as any other factor for the Patriots' offense, as Miami is tops in the league in their down defense, accomplished simply by bringing heat from their violent pass rush in obvious passing situations.

This game has all the makings of a classic Patriots / Dolphins showdown, but with much more on the line for both teams. Last season, the Patriots sleepwalked through their season finale and lost home field advantage throughout the playoffs because of it - and that in itself should tell you everything you need to know about this game...

...because if the Dolphins played that hard and that mean in a meaningless game for them to end last season, how much more motivated are they going to be when the game means the difference between going to a toasty warm Houston as the fifth-seed or to iced-down Pittsburgh as the sixth-seed, something that a win over New England will provide them.

But the Patriots are not without motivation either, as they well remember what that loss to Miami last season cost them in the playoffs. New England is in a similar boat this time around, in trying to fend off a challenge from the Oakland Raiders for the top seed in the AFC, which a victory over the Dolphins will give them.

Of Ponies And Unicorns - Patriots Simply Evolve Into What They Need To Be

Martellus Bennett was brought to Foxborough specifically for this eventuality.

Last season, the New England Patriots suffered a brutal string of injuries on offense that left it a literal shell of itself, causing a nose dive from the undisputed favorite to defend their world championship in Super Bowl 50 to a mix-matched motley crew that could barely squeeze out a touchdown here and there.

The issue, one that Patriots general manager Bill Belichick went to great lengths to repair this offseason, was a horrific lack of depth that greatly contributed to the Patriots finishing the regular season 2-4 down the stretch, then being eliminated by the Denver Broncos in the AFC Championship game.

Blount, Brady, Bennett and Edelman (l to r)

In four consecutive weeks, the Patriots lost wide receiver Julian Edelman, passing back Dion Lewis, slot receiver Danny Amendola and tight end Rob Gronkowski - and while all but Lewis would eventually return, the loss of power back LeGarrette Blount in week 14 crippled the offense beyond any repair.

Going through such a debilitating string of injuries was unprecedented in team history, and hammered home the message that the Patriots' fortunes have always relied on the superficial, and Belichick lived dangerously for years with teams that looked awesome on the surface, but were about as deep as a conversation with a three year old.

In 2015, it came back to bite him in the ass.

With Lewis already gone for the season and passing back James White just getting his feet wet in the offense, the only options left for Belichick was Brandon Bolden and a clearly washed up Steven Jackson, and it absolutely killed them in the post season.  Without the threat of a running game - the 41 yards per game that they averaged in the playoffs can hardly be called a "threat" - the offense collapsed...

...just as it did in 2011 when Gronkowski suffered an ankle injury in the AFC Championship game and was a shell of himself in the Super Bowl; just as it did in 2012 when Gronkowski was lost for the season with a broken forearm; just like it did in 2013 when Gronkowski had his knee shredded for him, losing half of his season and all of the playoffs.

You get the picture. But in each season since the debacle in the Super Bowl against the Giants, Belichick has brought in depth to guard against Gronkowski's annual blood letting, with Kellen Winslow, Jr. in 2012, Michael Hoomanawanui and Matthew Mulligan in 2013, Tim Wright in 2014 and Scott Chandler last season - but none of the aforementioned offered a viable alternative to the massively structured and talented Gronkowski.

Which, of course, really didn't matter in 2014 as Gronkowski enjoyed a relatively healthy season and he absolutely dominated in the playoffs and the Patriots won their fourth trophy.

Coincidence? Perhaps, especially considering he was healthy last season, but with neither the Chiefs nor the Broncos having any reason at all to respect the run, they set their sites on Brady and gave him the beating of his life, especially the Broncos who loaded up the pass rush and sacked him four times, but hit him hard, times six.

Brady went to great pains - pardon the pun - to target Gronkowski, completing eight of fifteen passes to the monstrous tight end for 144 yards and a four-yard touchdown with 12 seconds left in the AFC Championship that put the Patriots just a two-point conversion shy of overtime, but he also put the Patriots in a hole by targeting Gronkowski in triple coverage deep in his own territory...

...Von Miller intercepting and the Broncos converting three plays later, taking an eight point lead that would haunt the Patriots the rest of the game - and, indeed, the entire offseason.

Curiously, Belichick didn't address depth at running back in the offseason, opting instead to trade for Bennett, who calls himself the "Black Unicorn", with some forethought to the fist month of the season, knowing that Gronkowski would play sparingly, if at all, during a period in which Brady would be playing commando on an Italian beach instead of quarterback in Foxborough, courtesy of Roger Goodell's ego.

He brought back Blount with the notion that he had Lewis healing and Tyler Gaffney sitting on the practice squad, and then set his sites on backing up the wide receiver corps, bringing in restricted free agent Chris Hogan from Buffalo and drafting Georgia's Malcolm Mitchell, then went heavy on defense to replace departed pass rusher Chandler Jones and retired linebacker Jerod Mayo.

But that is a subject for another time.  What matters in the here-and-now is that despite the Gronkowski Injury - and, of course, barring any injury to the backfield - the Patriots' offense is still loaded.

The protracted absence of Gronkowski is about to cause the remaining Patriots' skill position players realize their purpose on offense and, perhaps more aesthetically important, it is about to cause the fans to realize that at least this season, there is life beyond Gronkowski.

For example, while the threat of the 12 and 22 personnel packages - that is, the two-tight end sets - may be history, the 21 personnel - that is the two running back Pro set - is alive and well, and it's called the "Pony".

The Pony offense is actually a variation of the Pro Set, but instead of utilizing a fullback the Patriots will employ two passing backs on some plays, a passing back and power back on others, and a power back and a fullback on still others - and since all of the Patriots' running backs are capable in the ground game, the Pony alignment will keep the linebackers and safeties on their heels...

...and perhaps even more so than having two tight ends in the pattern. This is not to disparage the effectiveness of a Gronkowski in the passing game, but it is far easier for the team to replace his blocking prowess in the ground game than it is to replicate his production in the passing game - and since the Patriots have swing tackles that report eligible and also Bennett, a fine blocker in his own right in addition to being a talented pass catcher, the Pony alignment will cause greater confusion on the second and deep levels.

This runs counter to what every opponent has come to expect from New England, especially division foes that are so familiar with Belichick's schemes - not to mention teams like Denver and Pittsburgh, whom the Patriots seem to play every single season -  that they build their defenses each season to answer what they know, simply from a personnel standpoint, that offense is capable of.

But where these teams fall into trouble is that while almost all teams have one subsection of their arsenal that their opponents absolutely have to game plan for, the Patriots have three.

Most are resigned to the now-fact that Brady is prepared to play into his 40's, and is still perhaps the steadiest, most consistent quarterback in the league.  There are a ton of intangibles that make up the prototype, having the same head coach for his entire career chief among them. In a way, they define each other - and the only way to game plan for them is to take away their weapons...

...and even that doesn't work most days, but the Patriots are entering an era where they are going to have to win with their running backs.

Two of them, power back Blount and White, have two of the top four totals in yards from scrimmage on the team, with Blount seriously flirting with a thousand yard season. Lewis looks to be regaining the form that made him an explosive home run threat - so that three-headed monster is something that must be game planned for.

The third is the offensive line. Quietly but quite convincingly, Dante Scarnecchia has put together a solid, if unspectacular, line that has allowed Brady to be sacked just 11 times in eight games, but just three times since the bye week and none in the last two games, and a line that has also allowed the backs to grind out 119 yards per game, good for sixth in the entire league.

Also something to keep in mind is that we've barely scratched the surface of what is essentially a complementary set of wide receivers, with a rotation of Edelman, Hogan and Mitchell, multi-purposed rookie D.J. Foster and newly signed Griff Whalen, who will serve in the stead of Amendola, who is battling a bum knee.

Patriots' lore offers up a time when former New England clipboard holder and current radio announcer Scott Zolak exclaimed "Unicorns! Show ponies! Where's the beef" when Brady tossed a touchdown pass with no time remaining in a game against the New Orleans' Saints a few years back, and most of us laughed it off as Zo just being Zo...

...but now the Patriots have the "Black Unicorn" running routes, a brace of speedy show ponies curling out of the backfield and plenty of beef up front - so maybe, just maybe, in Zolak's excitement he inadvertently predicted the Patriots' offense of the future.

"Boring" Patriots Stomp Rams With Workman Like Offense, Stout Defense

In all seriousness, the Los Angeles Rams were doomed from the second they stepped onto the field turf at Gillette Stadium on Sunday.

On the very first Patriots' series, head ball coach Bill Belichick used all three of his running backs on a drive meant to destroy their morale and to put to sleep any notion that their defense was going to stop the New England offensive machine, forcing the Rams to bring their safeties up to help in run support which affected their seventh-ranked pass defense.

Passing backs Dion Lewis and James White lined up in the pony formation on the first play of the game - an alignment that we should see plenty of going forward - with Lewis taking a handoff and skittering to the left for four yards, then burly power back LeGarrette Blount took the next handoff for nine yards up the middle, then White replicated the production off left guard on the next play...

...and while the Patriots would have been content to rip off running plays for eight yards per carry and demoralize the Rams' run defense even further, they had to settle for a Blount 43-yard stomp to paydirt and an early 7-0 lead.

Settling, because the Patriots are all about methodically taking the opposition's will away, and really aren't given to the big play - for in reality, all the big play does is put your defense back out on the field without their proper rest, and they are not in that business.

The New England Patriots have to be the most boring team in the National Football League.

But that's not a bad thing, is it?

They don't have an explosive wide receiver that can break a game wide open - in fact their idea of a downfield passing game is finding a soft spot in the zone between the second level and the secondary. Their favorite passing play is a bubble screen, and they are thrilled when their power back cuts against the grain for four yards. They nickel and dime their way down the field, chewing up clock and before you know it, they've scored in the high twenties without you even realizing it.

They have a quarterback that runs his offense like he's a dispatcher at a public works facility.  They have a head coach who looks like you'd sooner see him in line at the Gut Truck outside a tire factory than you would on an NFL sideline. Their offensive coordinator is the young, hyper-active prodigy that needs to be reeled in and properly supervised while their defensive coordinator spouts off engineering jargon like most people casually chat.

None of them, from the owner to the 53rd man on the roster are people you would call the life of the party, except, of course, tight end Rob Gronkowski - but Gronk is no longer on the active roster, courtesy of a slipped disc in this back which has landed him on the injured reserved list though Blount has had his moments, primarily celebrating with the End Zone Militia after a touchdown

The New England Patriots, as a team, approach each week as a business proposition.  They practice and ply their craft each day, always looking to get better individually, but always buying into their now-famous axiom, "Do Your Job", motivated and compelled to achieve that most celebrated company motto.

Blount's thunder roll touchdown was a direct result of establishing a running game from the start.  When the Rams' saw that Blount was in the game, they naturally had to at least respect the possibility of the run, but more than that, the short passing game combined with early success in the run drew the defense close to the line of scrimmage...

...and when Blount approached the line, the bottleneck caused by so many defenders in the box enabled right tackle Marcus Cannon, fullback James Develin and tight end Martellus Bennett to seal off the edge against all eight defenders, leaving only the secondary to deal not only with with Blount's deceptive speed, but also his 6' 0", 250 pound frame, which replays show they wanted no part of.

To the credit of the Los Angeles coaching staff, they found a way to adjust to what New England was doing on offense and in the second half looked like a top-ten defense, but with only an anemic offense to hand the ball over to and facing a seventeen-point halftime deficit, the game was essentially over.

One didn't need a crystal ball to know what was about to happen to the Rams on offense. In the four games since their merciful bye week, the Rams' offense has scored a total of 19 points in the second half, and that includes a garbage time, last second touchdown against the Carolina Panthers four weeks ago.

Their running game, a strength last season, has been all but invisible this season and their passing game hasn't reached 200 passing yards in their last three games - and all of those trends would continue on a chilly Sunday afternoon in Foxborough.

As they always do, the Patriots' defense concentrated on stopping the Rams running game, hoping to make running back Todd Gurley's presence inconsequential, while trying to put more pressure on rookie quarterback Jared Goff than they've been able to since their own bye week - and the result was utter domination of the hapless Los Angeles offense.

New England held the Rams to a season low in rushing (36 yards), time of possession (22:03) and first downs (7) while limiting their passing game to their second-lowest output of the season by one yard (126 yards), picking off two Goff passes - both tipped balls, one by defensive end Jaball Sheard - and holding them to just 1 of 13 on third down conversions.

Their lone touchdown was, you guessed it, a garbage time, last-second toss from Goff to wide receiver Kenny Britt, but that couldn't mask the fact that the Patriots' defense forced eight punts - six of them of the three-and-out variety - and didn't allow the Rams to reach 100 yards in total offense until after the two minute warning in the final frame after holding them to just 26 total first half yards.

So, the Patriots' offense didn't have to do anything special, and they didn't.  It was just another day at the office.

Quarterback Tom Brady led a conservative, button-downed "attack", throwing 46 passes - completing 33 - for 269 yards, posting a yards per attempt a full three yards worse than his season average of 8.6. Some of that was a natural consequence of  calling an absurd amount of screen passes that the Rams were prepared for, but rare was the occasion that Brady put the ball up for more than a half a dozen yards.

The week before against the New York Jets, Brady was hobbled with a knee injury that made it so he had a tough time pushing off of his right leg, physics dictating that he would overthrow his receivers  with a high trajectory release. He barely got away with it against the Jets, but the Rams' secondary would probably have made him pay for those errant throws, so perhaps Brady's knee is still an issue and the game plan - including the arcane number of screen plays - was a result of that.

Whatever the case, wide receivers Julian Edelman and rookie Malcolm Mitchell accounted for more than half of those passing totals despite being caught up in the screen-fest themselves, but it was Chris Hogan who scored the Patriots only passing touchdown, a fourteen-yard, back shoulder beauty that turned out to be the game winner, putting New England up 14-0 early in the second quarter.

The rest of the game was a coming out party for struggling place kicker Stephen Gostkowski - who found his missing mojo, nailing four field goals right down the middle - and a tutorial on directional kicking by punter Ryan Allen and in punt coverage, as the Patriots' special teams help Rams' lightning quick returner Pharoh Cooper to four yards on three returns.

Patriots' fans who pine for an explosive deep threat or for someone to replace Blount are going to have to get used to seeing what we saw on Sunday for the rest of the season - a workman like, ball control effort on offense that averages 27 points per game, and a bend-but-don't-break defense that surrenders just 17 points per game, which thus far has resulted in a 10-2 record and having the team on the cusp on yet another AFC East division title.

If that's not good enough, a lighter bandwagon isn't going to hurt the company's bottom line...